Results 541-560 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Energy (Biofuel Obligation and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Report Stage. (23 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I like those tenses.

Seanad: Energy (Biofuel Obligation and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Report Stage. (23 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I thank the Minister and acknowledge his comprehensive replies to all the speakers. We all share the same point of view on this matter. I agree completely with the Minister's assessment of the value of secondary legislation. We almost have an innate distrust of Departments. The flexibility of secondary legislation is one of the reasons we often try to have matters tied down in primary...

Seanad: Energy (Biofuel Obligation and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Report Stage. (23 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I second this amendment.

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Does the Deputy Leader agree with the Leader on that?

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: There is a sense of déjÀ vu about this; it reminds me of the ding-dong between Nora Owen and Deputy John O'Donoghue years ago and, after they crossed the floor after an election, the same ding-dong continued in the opposite direction. Listening to the Irish media one would think the Minister should be opening the envelopes in Tallaght hospital.

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Let us be clear about what we are doing, what we need to look at and where responsibility should lie. There is a medical team which needs to answer questions, a management team which looks after that medical team, the board of Tallaght hospital, its chief executive, the HSE, the Minister and the Department of Health and Children. There are at least five stages of separation between the...

Seanad: Compulsory Retirement from the Irish Army of Lieutenant Dónal de Róiste: Motion (10 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Compulsory Retirement from the Irish Army of Lieutenant Dónal de Róiste: Motion (10 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: That is sneaky.

Seanad: Compulsory Retirement from the Irish Army of Lieutenant Dónal de Róiste: Motion (10 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Compulsory Retirement from the Irish Army of Lieutenant Dónal de Róiste: Motion (10 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Pat Carey. Senator Harris has been working on this matter for some time and he discussed it with me on many occasions during the past year. For both of us, it has almost become an affair of the heart. It takes a great deal of courage to place a public apology on the record in the way Senator Harris did during his contribution. The Senator is of the...

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: The Minister has only been a Member of the Lower House for 23 years.

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I thank the Minister for a very comprehensive response. The most important thing is that the Minister is as determined as we are to find some leverage to achieve the same conclusion. I certainly would not argue that what we are doing is better than what the Minister will come up with. Therefore, it behoves us to wait and see what the Minister brings forward. I also wondered why the figure...

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I welcome the Minister and apologise for not being here for his response. He is pushing through the business at a great rate and catching us out. Has Senator Coffey moved amendment No. 35?

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I do not have to propose it formally. Having listened to most of the Minister's response, I am glad to hear he is sympathetic to the point we are putting forward. We are trying to achieve consumer protection in a safe and quantifiable way that does not damage any of the interested parties. In many ways it complements what would happen in the public sector. Senator Bacik touched on the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Serious?

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: It is neither fair nor reasonable.

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Yes. If the three courageous Members on the Government benches change sides, we will be able to have the debate. Senators: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: We should not waste the time of the Minister for Health and Children by requesting her to come to the House to deal with the matter raised. It does not reflect malaise or apathy on her part that there were problems among medical staff, including clinicians, physicians, radiographers and others. It is time we had a debate on the difference between accountability, responsibility and related...

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: The role of the Minister is not to read X-rays or run hospitals but to ensure they are run as well as a Minister can so ensure and that if problems arise, they are dealt with. Blame cannot attach to the Minister in this matter. That is a disinterested independent view. What has happened is absolutely appalling. I understand what the Opposition parties have to do and do not blame them for...